AAP government waives off water dues, over 22.6 lakh to benefit

New Delhi: In a move, which will benefit a large number of Delhiites, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that his government will waive off water arrears of consumers who live in colonies categorised as E, F, G and H, and have functional domestic meters.

Delhi’s colonies are categorised from A-H. Officials said A-D category colonies are considered as middle and upper middle residential areas. ‘A’ category colonies include those in Maharani Bagh, Chanakyapuri, and Golf Links.

He said late payment surcharge of those consumers who get their functional metres installed by November 30 this year will also be waived off.

 According to the government, consumers having functional meters by November 30 this year will be able to avail this scheme and as per rough estimate, over 22.6 lakh domestic water consumers will be benefitted.

For ‘A’ and ‘B’ category colonies, 100 per cent late payment surcharge (LPSC) will be waived off while 25 per cent of principal arrears will also be waived off. People living in ‘C’ category colonies will also get 50 per cent waiver on their principal arrears and 100 per cent LPSC waiver. In ‘D’ category colonies, people will get a waiver of 100 per cent LPSC and 75 per cent principal arrears.

The CM further said that 10.5 lakh people living in these colonies will benefit from this move. “We are expecting to earn '600 crore through this scheme. This is an attempt to clean our books.

The arrears have accumulated not just due to non-payment of bills, but also due to the fault on DJB’s part, including in the billing system,” CM said.

Unmetered water connections have come down to 1.5 lakh from 3 lakh in the last five years, he added.

There are 1,769,981 water consumers in E to H category colonies, while there are around 3.44 lakh consumers in the D category colonies. The government said that in A to B category colonies, 70,082 consumers will be able to avail the scheme benefits while in C category colonies, there are 76,125  consumers.

“The scheme that brings more households to the billing network along with the enhanced billing efficiency will improve the financial management of Delhi Jal Board,” he said.